Belfast Sights

  1. Albert Memorial Clock Tower

    Belfast's very own leaning tower, the Albert Memorial Clock Tower. Erected in 1867 in honour of Queen Victoria's dear departed husband, it is not so dramatically out of kilter, but does nevertheless, lean noticeably to the south - as the locals say, 'Old Albert not only has the time, he also has the inclination'. Restoration work has stabilised its foundations and left its Scrabo sandstone masonry sparkling white.

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  2. Bank of Ireland Building

    To the west of St Anne's Cathedral, at the junction of Royal Ave and North St, is the 1929 Bank of Ireland Building, a fine example of Art Deco architecture.

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  3. Belfast Castle

    Built in 1870 for the third Marquess of Donegall, in the Scottish Baronial style made fashionable by Queen Victoria's then recently built Balmoral, the multiturreted pomp of Belfast Castle commands the southeastern slopes of Cave Hill. It was presented to the City of Belfast in 1934.

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  4. Belfast Zoo

    Belfast Zoo is one of the most appealing zoos in Britain and Ireland, with spacious enclosures set on an attractive, sloping site; the sea lion and penguin pool with its underwater viewing is particularly good. Some of the more unusual animals include tamarins, spectacled bears and red pandas, but the biggest attractions are 'Jack' the blue-eyed white tiger, the ultracute meerkats and the colony of ring-tailed lemurs.

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  5. Botanic Gardens

    The green oasis of Belfast's Botanic Gardens is a short stroll away from the university. Just inside the Stranmillis Rd gate is a statue of Belfast-born William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, who helped lay the foundation of modern physics and who invented the Kelvin scale that measures temperatures from absolute zero (-273°C or 0°K).

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  7. Cave Hill

    The best way to get a feel for Belfast's natural setting is to view it from above. In the absence of a private aircraft, head for Cave Hill (368m) which looms over the northern fringes of the city. The view from its summit takes in the whole sprawl of the city, the docks and the creeping fingers of urbanisation along the shores of Belfast Lough. On a clear day you can even spot Scotland lurking on the horizon.

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  8. Cave Hill Country Park

    Cave Hill Country Park spreads across the hill's eastern slopes, with several waymarked walks and an adventure playground for kids aged three to 14 years. The best way to get a feel for Belfast's natural setting is to view it from above. In the absence of a private aircraft, head for Cave Hill (368m) which looms over the northern fringes of the city.

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  9. City Hall

    The Industrial Revolution transformed Belfast in the 19th century, and its rapid rise to muck-and-brass prosperity is manifested in the extravagance of City Hall. Built in classical Renaissance style in fine, white Portland stone, it was completed in 1906 and paid for from the profits of the gas supply company. It is equipped with facilities for the disabled. (Note that City Hall will be closed for major renovation work until summer 2009.)

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  10. Clarendon Dock

    North of the Harbour Commissioner's Office is the restored Clarendon Dock. Leading off it are the dry docks where Belfast's ship-building industry was born - No 1 Dry Dock (1796-1800) is Ireland's oldest, and remained in use until the 1960s; No 2 (1826) is still used occasionally. Between the two sits the pretty little Clarendon Building, now home to the offices of the Laganside Corporation.

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  11. Clifton House

    A 10-minute walk northwest from St Anne's Cathedral along Donegall and Clifton Sts leads to Clifton House, built in 1774 by Robert Joy (Henry Joy McCracken's uncle) as a poorhouse. The finest surviving Georgian building in Belfast, it now houses a nursing home.

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  13. Commercial Building

    South of St Anne's Cathedral at the end of Donegall St lies the elegant Georgian 1822 Commercial Building ahead, easily identified by the prominent name of the Northern Whig Printing Company, with a modern bar on the ground floor.

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  14. Conway Mill

    At the Falls, a few blocks away from the Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, is Conway Mill, a 19th-century flax mill that now houses more than 20 small shops and studios making and selling arts, crafts and furniture, an art gallery and an exhibition on the mill's history. There's also the Irish Republican History Museum, a collection of artefacts, newspaper articles, photos and archives relating to the republican struggle from 1798 to the Troubles.

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  15. Crown Liquor Saloon

    There are not too many historical monuments that you can enjoy while savouring a pint of beer, but the National Trust's Crown Liquor Saloon is one. Belfast's most famous bar was refurbished by Patrick Flanagan in the late 19th century and displays Victorian decorative flamboyance at its best (your man was looking to pull in a posh clientele.

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  16. Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich

    The focus for community activity in the Falls today is the Irish language and cultural centre Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich. Housed in a red-brick, former Presbyterian church, it's a cosy and welcoming place with a tourist information desk, a shop selling a wide selection of books on Ireland, Irish-language material, crafts, and Irish music tapes and CDs, and an excellent café-restaurant.

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  17. Custom House

    South along the river is the elegant Custom House, built by Lanyon in Italianate style between 1854 and 1857; the writer Anthony Trollope once worked in the post office here. On the waterfront side the pediment carries sculpted portrayals of Britannia, Neptune and Mercury. The Custom House steps were once Belfast's equivalent of London's Speakers' Corner, a tradition memorialised in a bronze statue preaching to an invisible crowd.

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  19. Fernhill House: The People's Museum

    Beyond Shankill Rd, about 500m up Glencairn Rd, is Fernhill House: The People's Museum. Set in a wealthy Victorian merchant's villa, the museum contains a re-creation of a 1930s working-class terraced house, exhibitions detailing the history of the Shankill district and the Home Rule crisis, and the largest collection of Orange Order memorabilia in the world. Take bus 11B, 11C or 11D from Wellington Pl, at the northwest corner of Donegall Sq.

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  20. Former Sinclair Store

    The former Sinclair Store (1935) is a fine example of Art Deco architecture.

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  21. Giant's Ring

    This huge prehistoric earthwork, nearly 200m in diameter, is a circular Neolithic ritual complex with a dolmen (known as the Druid's Altar) in the centre. Prehistoric rings were commonly believed to be the home of fairies and consequently treated with respect, but this one was commandeered in the 19th century as a racetrack, the 4m-high embankment serving as a natural grandstand. The site is 6.5km south of Belfast city centre, off Milltown Rd near Shaw's Bridge.

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  22. Grand Opera House

    One of Belfast's great Victorian landmarks is the Grand Opera House, across the road from the Crown Liquor Saloon. Opened in 1895, and completely refurbished in the 1970s, it suffered badly at the hands of the IRA, having sustained severe bomb damage in 1991 and 1993. It has been suggested that as the Europa Hotel next door was the home of the media during the Troubles, the IRA brought the bombs to them so they wouldn't have to leave the bar.

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  23. Harbour Commissioner's Office

    Near the ferry terminal on Donegall Quay is the 1854 Italianate Harbour Commissioner's Office. The striking marble and stained-glass interior features art and sculpture inspired by Belfast's maritime history. The captain's table built for the Titanic survives here - completed behind schedule, it never made it on board. Guided tours of the office are available during the Belfast Maritime Festival.

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  25. Lagan Weir

    Across the street from the Custom House is Bigfish (1999), the most prominent of the many modern artworks that grace the riverbank between Clarendon Dock and Ormeau Bridge. The giant ceramic salmon - a symbol of the regeneration of the River Lagan - is covered with tiles depicting the history of Belfast. It sits beside Lagan Weir, the first stage of the Laganside Project, completed in 1994.

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  26. Linen Hall Library

    Opposite City Hall, on North Donegall Sq, is the Linen Hall Library. Established in 1788 to 'improve the mind and excite a spirit of general inquiry', the library was moved from its original home in the White Linen Hall to the present building a century later. Thomas Russell, the first librarian, was a founding member of the United Irishmen and a close friend of Wolfe Tone. Russell was hanged in 1803 after Robert Emmet's abortive rebellion.

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  27. Malone House

    This beautiful 1820s mansion has exhibitions of paintings in its gallery and a reputable restaurant. Its large gardens have many rhododendrons and azaleas, with paths leading down to the Lagan Towpath and the City of Belfast International Rose Garden, which usually nurtures more than 20,000 blooms.

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  28. Milltown Cemetery

    The 1981 hunger strikers are buried at Milltown Cemetery. You'll see lots of green Hs attached to lamp posts (in memory of the H-blocks at the Maze prison where the hunger strikers were incarcerated); at Hugo St, opposite the City Cemetery, there's a large mural entitled 'St James's Support the Hunger Strikers'.

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  29. Northern Bank Building

    Opposite the elegant Commercial Building is the Northern Bank Building, the oldest public building in the city. It started life as the single-storey Exchange in 1769, became the Assembly Rooms with the addition of an upper storey in 1777, and was remodelled in Italianate style in 1845 by Sir Charles Lanyon, Belfast's pre-eminent Victorian architect, to become a bank.

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